Use of over 10 SIMs per NID banned from today

From today (November 1), no individual will be allowed to keep more than 10 active SIM cards under one national ID (NID), according to an announcement by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).

Mobile operators have begun deactivating additional SIMs as per the new directive. Previously, users could hold up to 15 SIMs under a single NID.

BTRC Chairman Major General (retd) Md Emdadul Bari said operators will complete the process by December to ensure compliance. “From today, operators are disabling extra SIMs, and by December, no NID will have more than 10 active connections,” he said.

According to BTRC, the move aims to restore discipline in SIM management and curb fraud. Users can check how many SIMs are registered under their NID online or by dialing *16002#.

The deactivation will follow a random selection method, meaning a computer algorithm will automatically choose which SIMs to deactivate, leaving no room for human intervention.

BTRC also plans to integrate SIM and mobile device tracking soon to prevent illegal or unregistered SIM use.

As of March 2025, Bangladesh has 186.2 million active SIMs against only 67.5 million actual users. Over 80% of users have fewer than five SIMs, 16% hold between six and ten, while just 3% use more than ten.